by John Fischer
God doesn't desire more of our time sometime, He desires more of our attention all the time.
Ever feel frustrated because you hear messages about getting closer to God and you definitely desire this for yourself, but you are inundated with so much to do already that this only makes you feel guilty because you are too busy for God?
I think we all feel this at one time or another. Some of you may need to carve out some time out of your busy schedule for more specific time to be with God, but that isn't necessarily the only answer to this question. Look at the following scriptures: I have set the Lord always before me. (Psalm 16:8 NIV) My eyes are ever on the Lord. (Psalms 25:15 NIV) I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. (Psalm 34:1 NIV)
Reading these words makes you wonder if these are the words of a monk who had nothing else to do but devote himself to God. Actually, they are the words of David, King of Israel, a great ruler and warrior. How did he manage to run a nation and keep his eyes on the Lord at all times?
The only conclusion is that he did this while you he did everything else. It's a continual awareness of God that we are talking about here, not necessarily more time devoted to spiritual pursuits. I once saw a sign that read: "Your God is what you pay attention to."
You see, I believe you can pay attention to God while you are doing everything else. It's all about doing everything for God and seeing God in everything we do. It's about bringing God into the boardroom, the exercise room, the living room, and the bedroom. Now of course He's already there in all these places but we're talking about being aware of Him being there at all times. That's what it means to set the Lord always before us.
Worship is a frame of mind that always has God in the picture. Church, Bible study, or devotions then become more precious to us, because we can devote all our attention to that which we have been aware of all along.
[Copyright Purpose Driven Life]
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Fall into grace
by John Fischer
This weekend I got a new take on an old phrase. I had the privilege of being at a church that was born out of failure. Its pastor had a fall from grace forcing him to lose his high position as heir apparent to a 6,000-member congregation and requiring him to give back a very lucrative book deal, but out of the broken pieces of his life, a new thing has begun. I had the opportunity to participate in the new thing that now has gained a level of legitimacy as a new congregation about ready to move into its first building, and it was an eye-opener.
As a result of its unique beginning, this church has attracted people whose life histories have not exactly followed the good Christian housekeeping seal of approval. They are, many of them, rejects from other churches – dropouts due to their own falls from grace. And as I pondered this, I wondered why it was the exception to the rule to have a church full of broken people. What are churches supposed to be anyway if not communities of those who need Jesus on a regular basis?
Unfortunately in many places, church has become more like a group of people who are all fixed up instead of those who are broken. At least that's what we try to be… The First Church of All the Fixed Up People. The problem with supposedly being fixed is that you have to do something with the knowledge that deep down inside, you know that you are not – that not everybody is telling the truth about themselves, yourself included, but because we are all "fixed," we can't face the truth.
In this light, a fall isn't the worst thing that could happen. If it brings you in touch with the real truth about yourself, and a true understanding of God's grace because you need it so much, it could be the best thing that could ever happen to you.
All I can say is, the place where this pastor has fallen to is a much better place than where he was before he fell. And the more I think about this, the more I am convinced that we have the phrase all wrong. You don't fall from grace; you fall into grace. Grace is not up; grace is down. Grace is what you finally understand when you fall. In fact, until you're down and broken, you can't even know what grace is. Oh you may be able to define it, and illustrate it so that it sounds like you know what you're talking about, but you never know grace until it reaches you personally in the depths of your own brokenness. Thus a fall into grace is really a fall into your salvation.
Fall from grace? Impossible. Grace is already down. Grace is what catches you. You can't fall from grace because there's nowhere else to fall. You're already in the arms of God.
by John Fischer
This weekend I got a new take on an old phrase. I had the privilege of being at a church that was born out of failure. Its pastor had a fall from grace forcing him to lose his high position as heir apparent to a 6,000-member congregation and requiring him to give back a very lucrative book deal, but out of the broken pieces of his life, a new thing has begun. I had the opportunity to participate in the new thing that now has gained a level of legitimacy as a new congregation about ready to move into its first building, and it was an eye-opener.
As a result of its unique beginning, this church has attracted people whose life histories have not exactly followed the good Christian housekeeping seal of approval. They are, many of them, rejects from other churches – dropouts due to their own falls from grace. And as I pondered this, I wondered why it was the exception to the rule to have a church full of broken people. What are churches supposed to be anyway if not communities of those who need Jesus on a regular basis?
Unfortunately in many places, church has become more like a group of people who are all fixed up instead of those who are broken. At least that's what we try to be… The First Church of All the Fixed Up People. The problem with supposedly being fixed is that you have to do something with the knowledge that deep down inside, you know that you are not – that not everybody is telling the truth about themselves, yourself included, but because we are all "fixed," we can't face the truth.
In this light, a fall isn't the worst thing that could happen. If it brings you in touch with the real truth about yourself, and a true understanding of God's grace because you need it so much, it could be the best thing that could ever happen to you.
All I can say is, the place where this pastor has fallen to is a much better place than where he was before he fell. And the more I think about this, the more I am convinced that we have the phrase all wrong. You don't fall from grace; you fall into grace. Grace is not up; grace is down. Grace is what you finally understand when you fall. In fact, until you're down and broken, you can't even know what grace is. Oh you may be able to define it, and illustrate it so that it sounds like you know what you're talking about, but you never know grace until it reaches you personally in the depths of your own brokenness. Thus a fall into grace is really a fall into your salvation.
Fall from grace? Impossible. Grace is already down. Grace is what catches you. You can't fall from grace because there's nowhere else to fall. You're already in the arms of God.
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